Part 4 (2/2)

We shall now introduce much circ.u.mstantial evidence, from American antiquities, and from the traditions of the natives, etc.

First, says Mr. Boudinot: ”It is said among their princ.i.p.al or beloved men, that they have it handed down from their ancestors, that the book which the white people have, was once theirs: that while they had it they prospered exceedingly, etc. They also say, that their fathers were possessed of an extraordinary Divine Spirit, by which they foretold future events, and controlled the common course of nature; and this they transmitted to their offspring, on condition of their obeying the sacred laws; that they did, by these means, bring down showers of blessings upon their beloved people; but that this power, for a long time past, had entirely ceased.” Colonel James Smith, in his journal, while a prisoner among the natives, says: ”They have a tradition, that in the beginning of this continent, the angels or heavenly inhabitants, as they call them, frequently visited the people, and talked with their forefathers, and gave directions how to pray.”

Mr. Boudinot, in his able work, remarks concerning their language: ”Their language, in its roots, idiom, and particular construction, appears to have the _whole genius_ of the Hebrew; and what is very remarkable, and well worthy of serious attention, has most of the peculiarities of that language.” There is a tradition related by an aged Indian, of the Stockbridge tribe, that their fathers were once in possession of a ”Sacred Book,” which was handed down from generation to generation; and at last hid in the earth, since which time they had been under the feet of their enemies. But these oracles were to be restored to them again; and _then_ they would triumph over their enemies, and regain their rights and privileges. Mr. Boudinot, after recording many traditions similar to the above, at length remarks: ”Can any man read this short account of Indian traditions, drawn from tribes of various nations; from the west to the east, and from the south to the north, wholly separated from each other, written by different authors of the best character, both for knowledge and integrity, possessing the best means of information, at various and distant times, without any possible communication with each other; and yet suppose that all this is the effect of chance, accident, or design, from a love of the marvelous, or a premeditated intention of deceiving, and thereby ruining their well established reputation? Can any one carefully, and with deep reflection, consider and compare these traditions and nations with the position and circ.u.mstances of the long lost ten tribes of Israel, without at least drawing some presumptive inferences in favor of these wandering natives being descended from the ten tribes of Israel?”

”Joseph Merrick, Esq., a highly respectable character in Pitsfield, Ma.s.s., gave the following account: That in 1815, he was leveling some ground under and near an old wood-shed standing on a place of his, situated on _Indian Hill_. He ploughed and conveyed away old chips and earth to some depth. After the work was done, walking over the place, he discovered, near where the earth had been dug the deepest, a black strap, as it appeared, about six inches in length, and one and a half in breadth, and about the thickness of a leather trace to a harness.

He perceived it had, at each end, a loop of some hard substance, probably for the purpose of carrying it. He conveyed it to his house, and threw it into an old tool box. He afterwards found it thrown out at the door, and again conveyed it to the box.

”After some time, he thought he would examine it; but in attempting to cut it, found it as hard as bone; he succeeded, however, in getting it open, and found it was formed of two pieces of thick rawhide, sewed and made water-tight with the sinews of some animal, and gummed over; and in the fold was contained _four_ folded pieces of parchment. They were of a dark yellow hue, and contained some kind of writing. The neighbors coming in to see the strange discovery, tore one of the pieces to atoms, in the true Hun and Vandal style. The other three pieces Mr. Merrick saved, and sent them to Cambridge, where they were examined, and discovered to have been written with a pen, in _Hebrew_, plain and legible. The writing on the three remaining pieces of parchment, was quotations from the Old Testament. See Deut., vi, from 4--9; also xi, 13--21; and Exodus, xiii, 11--16, to which the reader can refer, if he has the curiosity to read this most interesting discovery.

”On the banks of White River, in Arkansas Territory, have been found ruins erected no doubt by an enlightened population, of the most extraordinary character, on account of their dimensions, and the materials of which they were erected. One of these works is a wall of earth, which encloses an area of six hundred and forty acres, equal to a mile square, and having, in its centre, the foundation of a large circular building, or temple. Another, yet more strange, and more extensive, consists of the foundations of a great city, whose streets, crossing each other at right angles, are easily traced through the mighty forest. And besides these are found the foundations of _houses_, made of _burnt_ bricks, like the bricks of the present time.

These have been traced to the extent of a mile.”

The foregoing is taken from Priest's American Antiquities, and from the same work we extract the following, page 246:

”_Ruins of the City of Otolum, discovered in North America_.--In a letter of C. S. Rafinesque, whom we have before quoted, to a correspondent in Europe, we find the following: 'Some years ago, the Society of Geography, in Paris, offered a large premium for a voyage to Guatemala, and for a new survey of the antiquities of Yucatan and Chiapa, chiefly those fifteen miles from Palenque.'”

”I have,” says this author, ”restored to them the true name of _Otolum_, which is yet the name of the stream running through the ruins. They were surveyed by Captain Del Rio, in 1787, an account of which was published in English, in 1822. This account describes partly the ruins of a _stone_ city, of no less dimensions than seventy-five miles in circuit; length, thirty-two, and breadth twelve miles, full of palaces, monuments, statues, and inscriptions: one of the earliest seats of American civilization; about equal to Thebes of ancient Egypt.”

It is stated in the _Family Magazine_, No. 34, p. 266, for 1833, as follows: ”Public attention has been recently excited, respecting the ruins of an ancient city, found in Guatemala. It would seem that these ruins are now being explored, and much curious and valuable matter, in a literary and historical point of view, is antic.i.p.ated. We deem the present a most auspicious moment, now that the public attention is turned to the subject, to spread its contents before our readers, as an introduction to future discoveries, during the researches now in progress.”

The following are some of the particulars, as related by Captain Del Rio, who partially examined them, as above related, in 1787: ”From Palenque, the last town northward in the province of _Ciudad Real de Chiapa_, taking a southwesterly direction, and ascending a ridge of high land, that divides the kingdom of Guatemala from Yucatan, at the distance of six miles, is the little river _Micol_, whose waters flow in a westerly direction, and unite with the great river _Tulijah_, which bends its course towards the province of _Tobasco_. Having pa.s.sed Micol, the ascent begins, and at half a league, or a mile and a half, the traveler crosses a little stream called Otolum; from this point heaps of stone ruins are discovered, which render the roads very difficult for another half league, when you gain the height whereon the stone houses are situated, being still fourteen in number in one place, some more dilapidated than others, yet still having many of their apartments perfectly discernible. These stand on a rectangular area, three hundred yards in breadth by four hundred and fifty in length, which is a fraction over fifty-six rods wide, and eighty-four rods long, being in the whole circuit, two hundred and eighty rods, which is three fourths of a mile, and a trifle over. This area presents a plain at the base of the highest mountain forming the ridge. In the centre of this plain is situated the largest of the structures which has been, as yet, discovered among these ruins. It stands on a mound, or pyramid, twenty yards high, which is sixty feet, or nearly four rods, in perpendicular alt.i.tude, which gives it a lofty and beautiful majesty, as if it were a temple suspended in the sky.

This is surrounded by other edifices, namely, five to the northward, four to the southward, one to the southwest, and three to the eastward, fourteen in all.

”In all directions, the fragments of other fallen buildings are seen extending along the mountain, that stretches east and west either way from these buildings, as if it were the great temple of wors.h.i.+p, or their government-house, around which they built their city, and where dwelt their kings and officers of state. At this place was found a subterranean stone aqueduct, of great solidity and durability, which in its course pa.s.ses beneath the largest building.”

Let it be understood, this city of Otolum, the ruins of which are so immense, is in North, not South America, in the same lat.i.tude with the island of Jamaica, which is about eighteen degrees north of the equator, being on the highest ground between the northern end of the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, where the continent narrows towards the Isthmus of Darien, and is about eight hundred miles south of New Orleans.

The discovery of these ruins, and also of many others, equally wonderful, in the same country, is just commencing to arouse the attention of the schools of Europe, which hitherto have denied that America could boast of her antiquities. But these immense ruins are now being explored under the direction of scientific persons, a history of which, in detail, will, doubtless, be forthcoming in due time; two volumes of which, in ma.n.u.script, we are informed, have already been written, and cannot but be received with enthusiasm by Americans.

A gentleman who was living near the town of Cincinnati, in 1826, on the upper level, had occasion to sink a well for his accommodation; he persevered in digging to the depth of eighty feet, without finding water; but still persisting in the attempt, his workmen found themselves obstructed by a substance, which resisted their labor, though evidently not stone. They cleared the surface and sides from the earth bedded around it, when there appeared the stump of a tree, three feet in diameter, and two feet high, which had been cut down with an ax. The blows of the ax were yet visible. It was nearly of the color and apparent character of coal, but had not the friable and fusible quality of that substance. Ten feet below, the water sprang up, and the well is now in constant supply and high repute.

In Morse's Universal Geography, first volume, p. 142, the discovery of the stump is corroborated: ”In digging a well in Cincinnati, the stump of a tree was found in a sound state, ninety feet below the surface; and in digging another well, at the same place, another stump was found, at ninety four feet below the surface, which had evident marks of the ax; and on its top there appeared as if some iron tool had been consumed by rust.”

We might fill a volume with accounts of American antiquities, all going to show that this country has been inhabited by a people who possessed a knowledge of the arts and sciences, who built cities, cultivated the earth, and who were in possession of a written language. But the things which we have here introduced are abundantly sufficient for our purpose. If a few characters in Hebrew have been found in the earth in America, written on parchment, then it is just as easy to admit that a whole volume has been found in the earth in America, written on plates, in Egyptian characters. The astonis.h.i.+ng facts of the stumps found eighty or ninety feet under ground at Cincinnati, and similar discoveries in many other parts of North and South America, such as buried cities, and other antiquities, all go to prove that there has been a mighty convulsion and revolution, not only of nations, but of nature; and such a convulsion as is nowhere else so reasonably accounted for, as in the following extraordinary and wonderful account of events, which transpired in this country, during the crucifixion of Messiah, which we extract from the Book of Mormon, Nephi, v, 2-11:

”And it came to pa.s.s, in the thirty and fourth year, in the first month, in the fourth day of the month, there arose a great storm, such an one as never had been known in all the land; and there was also a great and terrible tempest; and there was terrible thunder, insomuch that it did shake the whole earth, as if it was about to divide asunder; and there were exceeding sharp lightnings, such as never had been known in all the land. And the city of Zarahemla did take fire; and the city of Moroni did sink into the depths of the sea, and the inhabitants thereof were drowned; and the earth was carried up upon the city of Moronihah, that, in the place of the city thereof, there became a great mountain; and there was a great and terrible destruction in the land southward. But, behold, there was a more great and terrible destruction in the land northward; for, behold, the whole face of the land was changed, because of the tempest, and the whirlwinds, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the exceeding great quaking of the whole earth; and the highways were broken up, and the level roads were spoiled, and many smooth places became rough, and many great and notable cities were sunk, and many were burned, and many were shook till the buildings thereof had fallen to the earth, and the inhabitants thereof were slain, and the places were left desolate; and there were some cities which remained, but the damage thereof was exceeding great, and there were many in them who were slain, and there were some who were carried away in the whirlwind, and whither they went, no man knoweth, save they know that they were carried away; and thus the face of the whole earth became deformed, because of the tempests, and the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the quaking of the earth. And, behold, the rocks were rent in twain; they were broken up upon the face of the whole earth, insomuch that they were found in broken fragments, and in seams, and in cracks, upon all the face of the land.

”And it came to pa.s.s, that when the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the storm, and the tempest, and the quakings of the earth did cease--for, behold, they did last for about the s.p.a.ce of three hours: and it was said by some that the time was greater; nevertheless, all these great and terrible things were done in about the s.p.a.ce of three hours; and then, behold, there was darkness upon the face of the land.

”And it came to pa.s.s that there was a thick darkness upon all the face of the land, insomuch that the inhabitants thereof, who had not fallen, could feel the vapor of darkness; and there could be no light because of the darkness, neither candles, neither torches; neither could there be fire kindled with their fine and exceeding dry wood, so that there could not be any light at all; and there was not any light seen, neither fire, nor glimmer, neither the sun, nor the moon, nor the stars, for so great were the mists of darkness which were upon the face of the land.

”And it came to pa.s.s, that it did last for the s.p.a.ce of three days, that there was no light seen; and there was great mourning and howling, and weeping among all the people continually; yea, great were the groanings of the people, because of the darkness and great destruction which had come upon them. And in one place they were heard to cry, saying, O that we had repented before this great and terrible day, and then would our brethren have been spared, and they would not have been burned in that great city of Zarahemla! And in another place they were heard to cry and mourn, saying, O that we had repented before this great and terrible day, and had not killed and Stoned the prophets and cast them out; then would our mothers, and our fair daughters, and our children have been spared, and not have been buried up in that great city Moronihah; and thus were the howlings of the people great and terrible.

”And it came to pa.s.s, that there was a voice heard among all the inhabitants of the earth upon the face of this land, crying, Wo, wo, wo unto this people; wo unto the inhabitants of the whole earth, except they shall repent, for the devil laugheth, and his angels rejoice, because of the slain of the fair sons and daughters of my people; and it is because of their iniquity and abominations that they are fallen. Behold, that great city of Zarahemla have I burned with fire, and the inhabitants thereof. And behold, that great city Moroni have I caused to be sunk in the depth of the sea, and the inhabitants thereof to be drowned. And behold, that great city Moronihah have I covered with earth, and the inhabitants thereof, to hide their iniquities and their abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints shall not come any more unto me against them. And behold the city of Gilgal have I caused to be sunk, and the inhabitants thereof to be buried up in the depths of the earth: yea, and the city of Onihah and the inhabitants thereof, and the city of Moc.u.m and the inhabitants thereof, and the city of Jerusalem and the inhabitants thereof, and waters have I caused to come up in the stead thereof, to hide their wickedness and abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints shall not come up any more unto me against them. And behold the city of Gadiandi, and the city of Gadiomnah, and the city of Jacob, and the city of Gimgimno, all these have I caused to be sunk, and made hills and valleys in the places thereof; and the inhabitants thereof have I buried up in the depths of the earth, to hide their wickedness and abominations from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and saints should not come up anymore unto me against them. And behold that great city of Jacobugath, which was inhabited by the people of the king of Jacob, have I caused to be burned with fire, because of their sins and their wickedness, which was above all the wickedness of the whole earth, because of their secret murders and combinations; for it was they that did destroy the peace of my people and the government of the land: therefore I did cause them to be burned, to destroy them from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints should not come up unto me any more against them. And behold, the city of Laman, and the city of Josh, and the city of Gad, and tho city of Kishk.u.men, have I caused to be burned with fire, and the inhabitants thereof, because of their wickedness in casting out the prophets, and stoning those whom I did send to declare unto them concerning their wickedness and their abominations; and because they did cast them all out, that there were none righteous among them, I did send down fire and destroy them, that their wickedness and abominations might be hid from before my face, that the blood of the prophets and the saints whom I sent among them might not cry unto me from the ground against them; and many great destructions have I caused to come upon this land and upon this people, because of their wickedness and their abominations.

”O, all ye that are spared, because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you? Yea, verily, I say unto you, if ye will come unto me, ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whomsoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me. Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the son of G.o.d. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name. I came unto my own, and my own received me not.

And the Scriptures concerning my coming are fulfilled. And as many as have received me, to them have I given to become the sons of G.o.d; and even so will I to as many as shall believe on my name; for, behold, by me redemption cometh, and in me is the law of Moses fulfilled. I am the light and life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood: yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings; and ye shall offer, for a sacrifice unto me, a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me, at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not. Behold, I have come unto the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the world from sin: therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive; for of such is the kingdom of G.o.d. Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again: therefore, repent and come unto me, ye ends of the earth, and be saved.

”And now, behold it came to pa.s.s, that all the people of the land did hear these sayings; and did witness of it. And after these sayings, there was silence in the land for the s.p.a.ce of many hours: for so great was the astonishment of the people that they did cease lamenting and howling for the loss of their kindred which had been slain; therefore there was silence in all the land for the s.p.a.ce of many hours.

<script>